By Alistair Gordon

Copyright scotsman

Despite growing up a die hard Hibee, the pundit put his personal bias aside, claiming he was impressed by The Jambos in Govan. After Hearts’ first league victory away to Rangers in eleven years, Derek McInnes has had a dream start to life in Gorgie. The Jam Tarts continued their unbeaten run in the SPFL Premiership as a Lawrence Shankland brace sealed a comfortable win for the visitors. In what was Hearts’ first test against Old Firm opposition in the Tony Bloom and Jamestown Analytics era, the team showed they can compete with the big boys. McInnes’ gameplan worked to perfection on Saturday as he made some tactical changes before the Govan clash. Starting two up top at Ibrox is always a gamble but the chemistry between Claudio Braga and Lawrence Shankland worked a treat for the first goal. Furthermore, the Hearts boss opted to play Harry Milne in midfield to give them more defensive solidity. After an Ibrox masterstroke from McInnes, a former Rangers man, who was commentating on the match, was extremely impressed. He spoke on Premier Sports’ Scottish Football Social Club alongside Alan Hutton and Michael Stewart. Ex Hibs midfielder Kevin Thomson believes Hearts fully deserved their win against Rangers. He said: “without being too fancy, Hearts got their tactics spot on. I think (Lawrence) Shankland was a real focal point for them and (Claudio) Braga gave them that speed and competitive edge. “Then you’ve got Craig Halkett and Stuart Findlay with the experience they’ve got. Cammy Devlin was terrific, so I think Derek McInnes got it bang on. His game-plan worked, to a man they were terrific, the subs that came on were terrific and as for Rangers it’s probably the poorest 45 minutes I’ve seen live since I’ve started watching football.” Regarding Hearts’ weekend opponents the match looked as if it could be the straw that broke the camels back in terms of Russell Martin’s reign as Rangers manager, however he said after the game he won’t be resigning. Jambos fans were repeatedly heard singing ‘sacked in the morning’ to the Rangers boss. Thomson spoke alongside Michael Stewart, who believes that the scouting network at Hearts has worked a treat. He said: “in its infancy, you start to see a few of the guys who were brought through from Jamestown analytics. This is not a side that has been revolutionised in terms of squad members, a lot of the players have been the basis of the team for quite a while. There’s been a great mix of good management, the squad that was already in place and adding quality. “Speaking of quality, look at Claudio Braga. Talking about the Jamestown Analytics, he’s come from the second division in Norway. I’m not sure many other teams would have been scouting Aalesunds FK to find a striker but he certainly looks like a real find. It’s not just the goals and assists he’s coming up with but his all round energy. “It’s obviously a very positive time for Hearts and I’m imagining Tony Bloom will be getting pretty excited at the moment. You need other things to go your way when making a fist of it in Scottish Football and Rangers are helping with that currently.” Your next Hearts read: Fresh concern for Hearts as injured players are sent for medical scans after Rangers win